Merry Christmas!!

6 year Anniversary Oregon Coast Lighthouse Tour - September

We started our trip leaving Medford after work Friday and ate at our favorite place. Mazzi's in Eugene,  where Lance proposed to me. Then Saturday we got up and headed toward Tillamook where we saw the lighthouse at Cape Mears. Below is the view from the Cape.

Here is Lance with the Octopus tree. It is a 105 foot tall Sitka Spuce that measures more than 46 feet in circumference and has no central trunk. It was really strange looking!

Cape Meares Lighthouse was first lit in 1890 and sits 200 feet above the pacific ocean.

Lance and I on the beach. Just like newlyweds!

After hanging out for a while in Cape Meares and eating lunch in a strange vendor fair that closed around 2pm... We headed south to Newport. Below is Yaquina Bay Lighthouse. This lighthouse was lit for the first time in 1871. Before the completion of this lighthouse there were arguments about where it should have been built so Yaquina Head was built just two years later (also in Newport).

While in Newport we also visited the Oregon Coast Aquarium which was super cool! They have a tunnel where you walk under the water and there are sharks swimming above and all around you!!

Yaquina Head lighthouse was first lit in 1873 and stands 93 feet tall!

Here's me climbing the stairs to the top!

The view from the top of Yaquina Head lighthouse.

Lance checking out the telescope with Yaquina Head lighthouse in the background.

Next we headed south to Florence and visited Heceta Head Lighthouse. Having lived in Eugene, I had been to Devil's Elbow state park numerous times and hiked up to Heceta Head lighthouse but I have never been inside! It was first lit in 1894 and during WWII the Coast Guard sent 75 men to protect against Japanese attack!

View from the lawn outside Heceta Head lighthouse.

Then Sunday we headed south again to Bandon. Below is the Coquille River Lighthouse. It was first lit in 1896 after 5 years of construction due to numerous delays and was abandoned only 43 years later in 1939.

Lance and I on the beach. I feel so very blessed to have such a wonderful man in my life.

It was a pretty awesome anniversary weekend. I felt very lucky that we were able to tour the inside of each of the lighthouses on our trip. The planning just all happened to work out - almost like someone from above was watching over us...

Dunes - August 2009

I'm WAY behind on posting so here I go!!

This is a dunes trip we took in August with Gabe & Tawny and Cameo & Scott. It was tons of fun but you can see an "After" photo on my mom's blog "Life on the Hill" if you like. Below is Tawny and I on our quads!

Here's Lance starting to pop a wheelie.

Me being silly and Cameo caught it. I love being at the dunes riding my quad!!

Gabe in his 4-Runner catching some air off a dune!

Yes this is me catching air on my quad!

Not normally something I do and this is not where I wrecked!

That was later when I was hurrying back to camp bc someone said I had enough gas...

This one is so small you will have to take my word for it.

Even though I wrecked on Sunday afternoon and man did it HURT! It was still a great trip and next time we will be camping in our brand new (to us) Lance Cabover Camper!!! I'll post more on that later...

Hi all! I just added a link to my ArtFire Design Studio on the right and I am celebrating!!

Use and share the coupon below!!
Good thru September 2009

Visit DivaDesignsbyAmberL's Studio

Receive free shipping on Order Total (orders above $40.00)

Use Coupon Code:

FREESHIP

during checkout.

New Furniture!

BIG Thanks to Ryan

for helping Lance move the new sectional in!!

It wouldn't have been possible without him!

Yeah! It's all set up!
And it fits perfectly!

Not so sure about the pillows though...
I may have to beg my MIL to help me make some dark brown or olive green slip covers!
Lance also installed the rear speakers in the ceiling.
Great Woot special!! $40 a pair!

Here's a close-up of the speakers flush in our ceiling.

That's all for now, we have Lance's B-day celebration this Friday so a lot of people will be seeing our floors in person for the first time!

2nd Coat of Sealer Dry

Can I gloat for a moment... LOL! I am loving our floors!!I am so glad we decided on Madrone because it is beautiful!

We should be able to put the last coat of sealer on today and move back in to our front room this weekend!
I don't mean to be obnoxious but I think I am still in shock that these are my floors considering our floors looked like this (below) for the last 4+ years!!

Hardwood Floor Update

Here's a look at the first coat of sealer.Here's the first coat of sealer dry.
I love the variation in the Madrone floors!
The entry. We have to seal the vent separate so it doesn't stick together!

I am so happy with how our floors are turning out!

It still doesn't seem real!

Thanks to Green Mountain Woodworks in Talent, OR our floors are gorgeous and didn't harm the environment in the process! Our floors are FSC certified!!

Hardwood Floors

For those who don't know, this is what our floors have looked like for the last 4+ years.Here's the front room.
The stack of Madrone to be installed.

Lance nailing in the floor.
The inset vent under our screen.

The front room now!
The entry now!
Just one photo of the transition to the concrete floors in our kitchen for those of you who doubted the vision. LOL!

I'll update you again tomorrow when we have some of the sealer on the floors. It should really bring out the color in the Madrone. Good Night all!

YUDU!

With the close of The Body Shop at Home channel I have decided to take my Diva Designs to the next level and create a more complete brand. I plan to do this by adding clothing and not just women's clothing! I am going to do kids and guys too! I bought a Yudu Screen Printer and I LOVE IT!

Here's a look at my first shirt! I was getting ready for work and Lance was already gone so I had to take the photo in my bathroom mirror so I could send it to my mom since she is as excited as me about this new toy! Plus I knew she was dying to see my first run! This design is a Yudu transparency design that you can buy so the next one will be a Diva Designs original! Well, off to bed so I can start the preparation of our floors bright and early tomorrow with Lance. We are finally getting hardwood in our front room. Yes it has been over 4 years that we have lived in this house and never had completed floors in our front room. That will all change by Tuesday! I'll keep you posted!!
Oh and tomorrow afternoon is a Scrapbooking Crop for Laura's B-day, YEAH!!

Signs of Spring!

I just love planting bulbs in the fall and waiting for them to come up in the Spring!These are Crocus (I think) I planted quite a few in this one area of my front yard. They are only a couple inches tall but I love seeing the color and when they pop their heads up it means Spring is just around the corner!
Such a beautiful creation from God.

Photo Tag

My Mom sent me a photo challenge nearly a month ago and I know I am a slacker for just getting to it but here are the rules:
Go to where you store your photos on your computer.
Go to the SIXTH folder and pick the SIXTH photo.
Post that photo on your blog along with a SHORT story about it.
Tag SIX people and leave a comment on their blog or email them letting them know you chose them.
This is our yellow lab, Abby. She doesn't bark like a normal dog, it sounds more like a combo of a bark and a howl - this is what she is doing in the photo. She does this when she gets excited and here we are camping at the base of the McGrew Trail. It is morning and we are all eating and getting packed up for a day of wheeling and she knows it! She loves running along the trail with the trucks.

I'm tagging:

1. Trisha

2. Tawny

3. Ashlee

I would also tag Tammie but she does not yet have a blog! I look forward to seeing your photos ladies!

Florence Damask

Entri Come Amici, Vada Come Famiglia

(Enter as Friends, Leave as Family)

Here's the Damask pattern I used on the kitchen wall in my dining area. It is a Florence Damask so it is keeping with the Italian color scheme and decor. The red wall is the same color as the other walls but it is a flat finish. The Damask is a mixture of the same red in high gloss finish and Venetian Gold metallic paint. It is fairly subtle and mostly uses the light to reflect and show the pattern.
For those of you who know me, this wall has been white for about 4 years now. I have finally come to terms with the fact I cannot afford a mural to be painted and I certainly don't have the skills to do it myself. I am however quite pleased with how this turned out!